The True Life of Sonic and Shadow
by Echo's Crow
Summary: The games are entirely inaccurate. Sonic and shadow are brothers. Nonetheless, they lead as crazy lives as they do in the games. Rated T for language, gore, and violence.R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Recently, Angelgust5 Weekly had an interview with Sonic and Shadow to find out how much of the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games were accurate to their lives. The interview went as follows:

Angelgust5: Thanks for sitting down with me for this.

Shadow: Anytime.

AG5: So how much of the series is accurate?

Sonic: To put it bluntly, it's about as accurate as the fact I could shove a doorknob up my nose without hurting myself…

AG5: Really?

Shadow: Well, first off, Sonic and I are brothers. We don't really fight or anything. No real sibling rivalry at all.

AG5: Doesn't surprise me in the least.

Sonic: He's the older one, by one year. I'm sixteen, he's seventeen. And tails is actually fifteen. 

Shadow:Tails and Amy are together, and Amy's more intelligent and more like tails was in the game.

Sonic: Knuckles and Rouge are dating and working together, both archaeologists. Go figure, right? Knuckles does protect the master emerald, but there's never really been a problem with that.

Shadow: And Dr. Robotnik is nowhere near evil. He's rich, kind, and sort of a gaurdian for us. He keeps us in line, and we all live in his mansion.

AG5: And what about Maria? And Tikal?

Sonic: Maria only existed in the game. As for Tikal, well, she lives an town and… (Sonic nudged Shadow)

Shadow: Shut up, sonic.

AG5: well, it was a pleasure talking to you guys.

Sonic: No problem.

Shadow, Sonic, and company present…

The Real Life of Sonic And Shadow

Episode one: halloween havoc.

"This is it."sonic said. "The final fight." Said Shadow. They stood on either end of Dr. Robotnik's sutdy. "There can be only one winner, You realize." "One wrong move and it's over for you." "You Ready?" "Yep." Sonic Yelled, "Rock, Paper, scissors—damn! I guess we have to do your costume pick this year. What is it anyway?" "I go as Jimmy Page and you go as Jeff Beck. What were yours?" "Indiana Jones and James bond."

"BOO!"

"JESUS CHRIST!" Sonic screamed. "Oh, it's just you tails. What the hell are you supposed to be, and what's with all the blood?" "I'm going as Vlad Dracul, the Impaler. Have you guys seen Amy?" "Nope." Sonic and Shadow head into the attic to find stuff for their costumes. They found Amy dressed up as Trinity from the matrix. She had even dyed her hair black. She looked so hot in the leather sonic and shadow couldn't help but stare as she walked past the and down the stairs. After a few moments of shocked silence, the two got busy with their costumes. Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik was busy in the basement. He kept the massive amounts of candy he owned locked in a safe so that no one would steal it. he filled a couple crates with candy, and headed up to get ready for the first trick or treaters.

Soon everyone congregated in the dining room. Knuckles and rouge didn't have any costumes, but were going anyway. As they headed out, Robotnik said, "Just do me a favor and be back before midnight this year." They hit the first house. Tikal answered the door, dressed as an aztec princess, just like in sonic adventure. "hey friends," she said, "mind if I join you?" shadow spoke quickly and rather awkwardly. "sure, of course you can." "Okay. Here's the candy bowl. Let's divide it up evenly." They ran over to the next house. Big was sittingg on the porch. He gave them one piece of candy each and gave them all pencils. "Every freaking year. Stupid freaking pencils." Tails complained. After about 10 houses. They came up to the graveyard. "There's some good houses on the other side of the Cemetery. Let's cut through." Knuckles said. About halfway through, they came across some smashed gravestones. "That's odd." Said Tikal, "I was in here yesterday. These weren't smashed." Shadow said, "And look, there appear to be claw marks in the rock. And look at this! A trail… of blood…" They followed it up and over the hill where the dead oak stood, standing guard over every grave. At the base of the hill, they found a gory scene. Blood was splattered everywere. There were five bodies. One was missing its head, another's innards had been torn out. Two others had had their throats ripped out and the fifth-the fifth was still alive! He had propped himself up against a grave. He was bleeding from his chest, from a slash from some sort of vicious creature. Sonic ran over to him. "No need to help me," the victim moaned, "I already called an ambulance with my cell phone. I'll be fine." "Is there anything we can do?" "Find Dr. Linily. Tell him Irving gave you this, and that Project Gannon has been released. Tell him Vincent is still alive!" He gave Sonic a Record that he pulled out of a bag. "Now all of you get the Hell out of here! If that creature sees you here, he'll kill all of you and come back to finish me off! GO!" they got to the west gate of the Cemetery, where they had been heading to. They all decided that they would track down the man the Victim had referred to as Dr. Linily tomorrow. They went to about 15 houses when they saw the anbulance whiz by. At the 26th house, a tall thin man with long slick black hair and deep green eyes opened the door. He was wearing a long white lab coat, black jeans, and an olive green t-shirt. "let's see. What do we have here. You're tails, right? I want to go with Vlad Dracul for your costume. And Amy, you're supposed to be Trinity, I assume. Sonic is Jeff Beck, and Shadow is Jimmy Page, a Yardbirds theme, and tikal, you're an Aztec Princess, maybe?"He said. They all stared at him. "You all live up at Robotnik's. He's a close friend of mine. Well, in terms of treats, all I have are soup cans. Take them, but come back here after you're done, and I'll give you guys some candy." They took the soup cans and left. They managed to get in 60 houses in under two hours. (author's note: I believe that's world record) they came back to the man's house. He gave them each a bucketful of candy. As they were heading down the driveway, he yelled to them, "Tell Robotnik that Josef Linily says hi."

They all froze in their tracks. Amy stammered, "D-Dr. Linily?" "No one has called me that in five years." Sonic pulled out the record (for those of you who don't know what a record is, go ask someone who was alive before the eighties. They'll know.) that the victim had given him. "Irving told me to give this to you. He said to tell you, 'Project Gannon has been released. Tell him Vincent is still alive!'" "Joshua Irving said that? where is he? Is he okay?" "He was badly hurt, in the graveyard. He called an ambulance for himself." "I think that all of you best come inside, for things have been set in motion that should have been stopped half a decade ago." Josef invited them into his living room. He went over to the stereo system in the corner of the room. There was a record player perched on top. He put the record on and lowered the needle into the groove. The voice of the man from the graveyard came through the speakers loud and clear.

"Josef, I hope to hell you get this before Vincent does. Damnit, that devil is smart. He's been picking off the members of Project Gannon cleverly. Each time any of them travel in groups, he slaughters them in a violent fashion, more like his velociraptor predecessors than his usual nature, so as to make them think the Raptors escaped and not him. But I was in several of the ambushes, and managed to survive each one. Look in the Record sleeve. I found out how to get him, Josef! I figured out the one chemical that destroys the violent gene in him! You and I know well that when we created him, we accidentally created a gene in him that makes him incredibly violent. I wrote down the formula of the chemical that destroys only that gene! We can study him, even treat him as equal! You can lace a bullet with the chemical, and fire it into him. It's the only way to get the chemical in. his fur, skin, and bones have hardened tenfold, and he can heal any wound he receives. Josef, I know you can do this. For god's sake, Linily, we must save him. Otherwise a helpless soul will rot in hell-hell-hell-hell-" The needle started skipping. Josef walked over and raised the needle, then shut off the stereo.

"I guess I should explain. Five years ago, I was working in a laboratory in NY state, on an experiment called Project Gannon. We had brought Velociraptors back to life, and crossed their DNA with a human's and injected it into a weasel. The results shocked us. A violent change happened. The weasel grew to seven feet in length. His intelligence soared aboove even most human's I.Q.'s, up to about 350. He could speak english, latin, and german fluently. His fur skin and bones all hardened to steel, and he grew long powerful claws. But the worst we were yet to discover. When we had crossed the DNA, we had accidentally created a gene that made him unimaginably violent. He at first was able to restrain himself, he even acted like a human. I was heading the project, and I named him Vincent. Soon, he became incredibly violent. We eventually sealed him underground with the raptors. That was Five years ago. Now he's back, and with a taste for revenge." Tails looked at the formula. "This would be easy to replicate. I could make this out of stuff laying around your house. Do you have a can of Coca Cola, two boxes of baking soda, gunpowder, and a microwave?" "Yes."

Josef led Tails to the kitchen. Tails grabbed the two soup cans from his bag of treats, and dropped them in a big metal bowl. He then opened the can of coke and poured it in. he put in the two unopened containers of baking soda, then sprinkled the gunpowder on top, and put it in the microwave for fifteen minutes. When he pulled it out.it was only a soup can. "How did you do that?" tails went on to open the can. The contents was a green slime. He dipped a clip of bullets in it, then put the clip in a handgun. As the two walked back into the living room, the creature tore through the window. Tails dropped the gun and it skidded across the floor to Amy's feet. Before the creature could react, she calmly picked up the gun, and fired three rounds dead center into its chest.

Everyone stared at her. She had picked up the gun and shot him without the slightest bit of hesitation, with perfect accuaracy. She had been, for that moment, an entirely different person. Shadow was the first to break the silence. "Dr. Linily, are you alright?" he tried to say something, but it was too muffled to hear. "what was that?" "I'M FINE! GET HIM OFF OF ME!" They heaved the limp figure of Vincent off of Josef. They dragged him up the stairs and into a guest bedroom. They left him on the bed, and said goodbye to Dr. Linily. As they were heading home, everyone was carrying on their own conversation. "Amy, what happened back there? I've never seen anything like that! That was amazing." Tails said. "Tails, I'd rather not talk about it." "Why?" "Just let it go." "Um, okay." Shadow Asked Tikal, "Um…would you like to…you know…uh, go out sometime?" "sure." "How about Tuesday?" "Okay." Tikal went home, and the rest went back up to the mansion. "Well, how was it?" Dr. Robotnik asked. "Same old, same old." Said Shadow, looking sadly out the window in the direction of the graveyard. "Oh, and Josef Linily says hi." "How's he doing?" He asked Sonic. "Pretty good." Shadow said nothing. He looked at the Oak on the hill. It was lit up by the moonlight. Shadow looked up in time to see a Dragon-like shadow pass over the moon. Shadow felt very sad, and tired, as he walked down the hall to his room.


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 2: The Death of a Friend 

THE NEXT DAY

Shadow had barely slept. He felt horrible. "God, I hate Sunday morning."

"Hey Shadow, still feeling depressed?" Sonic asked, as they walked down the hall to breakfast.

"No, merely wasted."

"One of those mornings, eh?"

"Yep."

"I still can't believe you summoned up the guts to ask Tikal out. You make it sound a lot harder than it really is."

"Coming from the guy who's never had a date in his entire life."

"Shut up."

As everyone sat down for breakfast, Tails reminded them about paintball that afternoon. "Don't forget, we paid a lot of money to get that spot in the woods reserved for 1 p.m., so we won't wait for anyone who doesn't show up." They finished breakfast and went about the things they usually did on Sunday mornings. Sonic and Shadow played dreamcast, Tails was experimenting with chemistry up in the tower of the mansion. Amy was building things in the basement, Dr. Robotnik was watching television, and Knuckles and Rouge…well, um, never mind. They all kept this up for a couple hours. Soon, they left for the woods. The woods, or as they were better known, alpha-17, were on the other side of town. As they were hiking over, they dropped in to visit Josef Linily, the man from the night before. The door was answered by Vincent.

"Oh, hello there. I assume you are here to see the Dr., too. Do come in." Vincent said, in a thick british accent.

"Is there someone else here?" Shadow asked.

"Two people, actually. A Joshua Irving, and a girl about your age, I'd say, named Tikal. We're having tea in the kitchen. Care to join us?"

"Only for a short time. We have a prior commitment." Said Rouge.

"Well, do come in."

They went into the kitchen.

Mr. Irving said, "I see you got my pakage through just fine. Thanks. As you can see, I am feeling much better since my accident. Do you remember anything beyond today, vincent?"

He replied, "No, oddly enough, I can't remember anything before I woke up this morning. It's a bit disorienting, but I'll adapt."

Tikal pulled shadow aside.

"Shadow, ever since I was little I have had premonitions. Sometimes of good things, sometimes of bad things. In a dream I had last night, a threatening voice said to me, 'The Unsung Hero has meddled in forces unseen. He will die for it on the morning of the second of november. And who always played the unsung hero in the games?"

"Tails. Dear god. Meddling in forces unseen, that would be chemistry and whatever else he's working on now. Tails is usually the one pulling all the strings, making things work. I'll keep an eye on him. God, Tails, what have you gotten yourself into? Did you tell anyone else about this, Tikal?"

"No."

"Keep it that way."

"Okay."

Shadow then went back into the kitchen.

"They left? Damn."

Josef spoke up. "Well,if you're going to do paintball, test this out for me."He pulled out a shotgun. "It's a Shotgun equipped for paintball. It has a larger barrel so as to fire a buckshot of paintball pellets. Here's the ammo."

"Thanks. Bye!"

Shadow took off and caught up with the group. They got into the forest and divided up into three teams. Sonic and Shadow, Tails and Amy, and Knuckles and Rouge. Sonic and shadow took up a small base near a stone enbankment called kitty's corner. The base wall formed a triangle with the two intersecting stone walls. They loaded up and flipped a coin to see who got to stay in the base. Shadow lost, and headed out. He had been wandering for a while when he stumbled on a shack.

"That's weird, this was never here before. I'll check it out. Wait a minute, why the hell am I talking to myself? Have I lost it?"

He ventured inside. Except a small walkway leading to a desk under the window, the shanty was filled from wall to wall with what looked like oxygen tanks. He walked up to the desk and took a look at the window. There, piled up against the outside, was tails' fort. He glanced at the desk. There was a sheet of paper laying out. He picked it up. There was a sketch of the shack with the tanks, and Tails' fort. Then there was a sketch of Knuckles lighting his lighter outside the shack (He had a bad smoking habit). The next picture was of a massive ball of flame.

"Holy Shit! This means that Tikal's prophecy may well come true. Wait, what's that sound?"

It was the sound of leaking gas.

"God Damn it! the gas is leaking! I've got to keep knuckles out of here."

He took the sheet and walked out of the shack. Almost immediately a paintball slammed the wall right beside his head. "Knuckles." He loaded the shotgun, and took a shot in Knuckles' direction. From the barrel exploded tons of little pellets of paint. Everything in front of him was coated with paint. He reloaded the gun. Knuckles stepped out of the bushes, covered in paint.

"You got me." He went over and leaned against the shanty, and pulled out his lighter.

"Knuckles, don't light it! oh—"FFFTHHOOOOMMM! A massive fireball erupted from the tiny hut. Tails was engulfed by the flames. The last image he saw he could not believe. Through the flames an angel of radiant beauty weilding a holy sword and sheild floated down and kissed him. he felt a divine light coarse through his body and then all went black.

Shadow and Knuckles went flying. Knuckles was fortunate enough to land in a pile of leaves, but shadow wasn't so lucky. He slammed through the wall of his base, completely shattering it, and smashed into Sonic.

"Jesus Christ!" Sonic exclaimed, as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"What the hell happened?"

"Call an ambulance for Tails and I'll explain on the way. Don't worry, I just need some Gauze or something for this cut."

"Dude, are you crazy? You're gushing blood all over the place. Come on, let's get you a doctor."

LATER, AT THE STATION SQUARE GENERAL HOSPITAL…

"How's Tails doing?" Knuckles asked. "Not too well, I'm afraid. He's fading." The doctor answered. 

Amy asked, "Can Shadow and I visit him? we're his closest friends."

The Doctor agreed, and they went in.

"Shadow, I know what Tikal told you. She swore to you to tell no one, but she felt I must know. After all, he and I are in love. But I've got a feeling that something's amiss in this prophecy. Either way, we've got to keep an eye on him. I've got something I need to do. I'll see you later."

"Amy, Shadow, don't leave me. Not yet." Tails moaned.

They both rushed to the side of the bed.

"I need you to find me something. Shadow, you know where it is. Bring me the Old book sitting in my room. I will explain when you return."

Shadow nodded and left. Amy stayed by Tails' side.

"Tails, do want me to stay here until shadow gets back?"

"Stay here until tomorrow morning."

"Sure."

Outside, Sonic was pacing back and forth.

"Knuckles. This is your fault. You lit the lighter. You may have killed him."

"Me? You are the one who should be questioned, damn it! Always having strange trucks parked in the driveway, sneaking out and driving towards those woods. I followed you one night. You drove into those woods. You built that shack, didn't you? You set Tails up! You Murderer!"

"Murderer? Last time I was in there, he was alive. You want him dead, don't you? Try to pin your plan on me? I think not, idiot."

"STOP IT!" Rouge Yelled. "Neither of you should blame the other. We don't know why whatever happened happened. Our friend may be dying and all you two care about is some stupid shack?"

Sonic and Knuckles were at Each other's throats all night.

It was very early Monday morning by the time Shadow arrived with the books for Tails.

"Well, It took me to find the book you were talking about. I'll leave them here."

He left the book on the bedside table, and left the room. Outside, he Wandered listlessly to the payphone. Pick it up, he thought, call her. You've got to tell her. Click. Hum. The dial tone was unchanging, plain in his ear. Chink. A dime. Chink, one more. Chink, this time it was a nickel. He nervously dialed her number. He counted, one, two, three rings before she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Tikal, meet me at the hospital. I need a ride home."

"Sure. Why are you at the hospital?"

Amy sauntered overed to Shadow, leaned on his shoulder.

"I need a ride, too."

"I'll explain later. I need to get into Tails's room."

Shadow paced, deep in thought.

Hell, his mind said, what has he done to bring this upon himself?

"There's tikal."

Amy's voice shattered his thoughts like an arrow through a clay pot.

"On, second thought, I'll stay here in town. I have something to look into before noon. Check Tails' room, but I have a reason to believe our problems may only be starting."

The ride was quiet. As he went through the room, doubt filled his mind as to Tails' roll in all this madness. He went downstairs for breakfast. He put some stale cereal into the bowl with the watery milk. He looked at rouge, reading the paper as if nothing was wrong, it was another workday.

"Where's sonic, and knuckles?"He inquired.

"I don't know," she said, changing the page, "they both stormed out of the hospital, ready to kill each other."

"Ahh." A spoonful of his soggy breakfast eliminated his ability to think in all its foulness.

By 9 am, Shadow was asleep on the armchair, a cup of coffee in his hand, The remote on his lap. Rouge was reading a novel, passing the idle hours on the couch.

"What time is it? I remember seeing Knuckles walk off into the woods, then I stumbled home and…woke up just now. Did I miss anything?"Sonic asked, Walking down the stairs from his bedroom.

"No," Shadow grumbled.

Amy walked in the door.

"I have some bad news." She said, her voice icy.

Shadow sat up and took a sip of coffee.

"Is Tails…?" he mumbled through his sip.

"No, I'm fine," Tails Said triumphantly walking in the door with the book under his arm.

"No, what I came to tell you is that Knuckles was shot this morning outside city hall."

Shadow spit his coffee out all over Sonic. Rouge Started to cry. Sonic, had a look of guilt and sorrow cross his face. Tails bowed his head. Someone had died.

THE FUNERAL 

That day, they buried him under the dead tree on the hill.

"So, he's the unsung hero. We had the wrong person the whole time." Shadow said.Rouge laid flowers on his coffin as it was lowered. The Headstone stood guard over his grave. The Funeral at the mansion was long and sorrowful. That day was Shadow's eighteenth birthday.

Later, In his room, Tails was trying to solve an equation for one of his new inventions. He looked to the graveyard. He saw Amy, standing alone on the hill. She was holding her arms up to the sky. Slowly, thunderclouds started to form in the sky. The wind picked up, Torrents of rain began to fall. The clouds swirled together. She pointed at the grave, And from the center of the storm a bolt of lightning shot out. It came straight down into the tree, fired from it, and Struck the Tombstone. Like a crystal from a chandelier falling to a cold stone floor, the gravestone Shattered into a million pieces.


	3. Chapter 3

_**EPISODE 3: Annie The Heartbreaker**_

_**TUESDAY**_

Tails ran down the hall, and woke up shadow.

"Shadow, Wake up! Amy's doing something in the graveyard. I don't know how, But I think she just brought Knuckles back to life!"

Sonic groaned in his sleep. Shadow bolted out of bed. They ran outside. The storm subsided instantly. The ground began to shake, The tree on the hill began to grow. Its dead figure started to grow more dead branches, its roots twist and turn and multiply, its trunk thicken. It became a massive imposing figure. Amy was dressed the way she had been on Halloween. Tails and shadow ran up the hill. Amy was standing over the grave. The grave looked like it had been torn up by the hand of a giant. And there, leaning against the base of the tree, looking very confused, was Knuckles. Amy pulled them aside.

"Don't tell him about…you know what.He didn't remember anything, now it's slowly coming back to him. Let him figure it out."

"How the hell did—"

"Tell you later, Tails."

Knuckles walked over to them. "Hey, Shadow, How's it going?"

"Fine."

"You know, it's the strangest thing. The last thing I remember was the clock on top of city hall chiming three, seeing the sliver of moon, then waking up in the graveyard. Weird, right?"

The others exchanged looks. They decided to head home. Knuckles crept into bed. Rouge had went to get A snack before bed. Amy stopped her, and told her that Knuckles wasn't dead, but not to Say anything of his death to him. Rouge went upstairs, and they, well, you know. Later, at lunch, Sonic started a fight.

"So, Knuckles, you don't remember anything from the past day? Nothing at all?"

"No. It's there. But I just can't seem to grasp it."

"I know, but if the others had their way, I'd take it to the grave."

Shadow glared at him.

"Wouldn't give it up on my deathbed."

The gazes of everyone fell upon him. he took this in stride. He thought, 'they don't matter. I must finish what I start.'

"It is a grave matter. Your memory wiped like a reset hard drive."

"Sonic…Stop it…" Shadow was losing his temper. Sonic is being a real jackass, His mind said.This isn't like him. Sonic saw the building rage and flew with it.

"I'll tell you what happened. You were shot to death. You spent the night in a coffin, six feet down. Somehow, someone brought you back to life and––"He couldn't finish his sentence, as Shadow leapt over the table and tackled him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Shadow yelled. Sonic thrashed, trying to get free.

"Get off of me, you bastard!" He slugged Shadow. They rolled around on the floor, hitting and fighting each other. Then Shadow slammed Sonic into the wall. They stopped. Sonic got up, helped Shadow up, and apologized.

"I'm sorry."

"No , I overreacted.I––­"

"Listen, I shouldn't have done that. I've been a real jerk. I sot of got carried away. I had a lot on my mind, I wasn't thinking about what I was doing. I really didn't mean it. Knuckles, will you forgive me?"

"Yes, I forgive you." He seemed to be in a state of small shock.  
'Good,' Sonic was thinking, 'they believed me.'

LATER…

Shadow went out and started his motorcycle. He had not forgotten about his date with Tikal. He picked her up, and they went to a movie.

After the movie, Tikal wanted to tell shadow something.  
"Shadow, thanks for the movie."

"Do you want to do it again sometime?"

"No, actually, I wanted to tell you, I don't really like you."

"WHAT?"

"I used the date as an excuse for a free movie. I am dating someone else, and we are happy together. I don't like you at all." Right then, a slick car pulled up. Shadow saw a buff-looking raccoon sitting in the driver's seat. Tikal got in, and they drove away. Shadow took the long way home.

"And She just used you?"Tails asked.

Amy Said, "Now THAT'S low."

"I really don't want to talk about it. I just want to go to bed.

_**WEDNESDAY**_

It was around noon, abouts, when the Lambourghini Diablo pulled into the driveway of the house next door. It had just been sold. Out of the Diablo stepped a lean, Tall, sexy husky. Shadow, Sonic, and Knuckles were all watching from the hall window.

"_Hey fellas, have you heard the news? You know that Annie's back in town?_

_It won't take long just watch and see how the fellas lay their money down._

_Her style is new but the face is the same as it was so long ago,_

_But from her eyes, a different smile like that of one who knows."_

Amy Looked out the window. "Annie?"

"Is that? no way." Said Knuckles.

"_Well, it's been ten years and maybe more since I first set eyes on you._

_The best years of my life gone by, here I am alone and blue._

_Some people cry and some people die by the wicked ways of love;_

_But I'll just keep on rollin' along with the grace of the Lord above."_

"Man, she's hot." Shadow said.

"And tall!" Sonic said, "she's got to be at least 6 feet!"

"six foot four." Knuckles added.

They gave him a look.

"_People talkin' all around 'bout the way you left me flat,_

_I don't care what the people say, I know where their jive is at._

_One thing I do have on my mind, if you can clarify please do,_

_It's the way you call me by another guy's name when I try to make love to you."_

She glanced up towards the window, then went back to moving stuff out of the passenger seat of her car. White hair, sleek face, a long black jacket, A white shirt emblazened with the Canadian flag, olive-green cargo pants with lots of pockets, Shadow and Sonic couldn't help but stare.

"_Work so hard I couldn't unwind, get some money saved;_

_Abuse my love a thousand times, however hard I tried._

_Heartbreaker, your time has come, can't take your evil way;_

_Go away, Heartbreaker._

_Heartbreaker._

_Heartbreaker._

_Heart—"_

A moving van pulled up, and She went inside.

"Do you know her?" Shadow let the Question loose.

"yes. Let me explain.

"It was five years ago. I was a 19 year old trying to ditch a drinking habit. She was 14 at the time. Her name is Annie Dubois, a Canadian. No one knew why she was there, but there was a rumor she was addicted to aphrodisiacs. I knew her, but not too well. Amy has some connection to her. There's something fishy about it, but I can't really say I know anything about it."

Shadow watched all day, but the only people to come out of the house were the movers.

_**THURSDAY**_

Amy woke up with a headache. Today was Tails' birthday, and he was turning sixteen. Of course, she had a gift for him, as well as shadow, Whose party had been cancelled for the funeral. She had gotten Tails a Stephen King book, and for Shadow, A a revolver, like one a cowboy would have. Cold steel barrel, Oak handle, Six chambers, the whole nine yards. Sure, it was an odd present. But then, she thought, He's that kind of guy. Annie was back, which was a surprise. Amy wondered why she had moved here. She wondered if Annie still had that sword…

Shadow woke up in a dreamy state. He had had a dream about that girl next door. She was sexy, there was no way around it. He couldn't get his mind off of her. He thought it was Ironic, Even fate she appeared after Tikal had crushed him. Somewhere in the back of his head a little voice was saying things. "don't you think you're going oveboard? A little too infatuated?" He didn't listen. His party was today, and he had a sneaking suspicion she'd be there.

Sonic's mind was a fury that morning. _You failed. You need to try again. _'But I don't want to.' _ You must. I can make you, but you hate that. I know you'd rather do it any day than have me do it. don't make me make you do it._ 'Isn't there something you would rather have me do instead?' _Well, now that you mention it…_

Knuckles' and Rouge's minds were one that morning. The love between them had never been stronger. As they woke up, they embraced each other. Their love had literally withstood death, and they couldn't be happier. Knuckles thought about what he had to do that morning, in terms of work. He knew Rouge was happy that his smoking habit had disappeared after the incident. Rouge thought about how Knuckles had been so happy after he had come back, and how happy she'd been, too.

Tails took advantage of his birthday and didn't wake up until 1.

_**THE PARTY**_

The party was a great afternoon. 2 cakes, Tons of presents, and plenty of funny moments. Shadow was a bit stunned when he opened Amy's present. He liked it, but it was an unusual thing to get. "I really like it, Amy. It looks great. I just hope I never have to use it."

Sonic juggled eggs, and ended up covered in yolk. Tails and Amy Made out in the corner. Knuckles Gargled the national anthem in soda. Rouge tripped and fell face-first into Shadow's cake. Shadow swung from the chandelier in the Hall. It was a crazy party, and a relief for everyone. The past week had been a stressful one.

_**FRIDAY**_

They were about to start lunch when the doorbell rang. Rouge answered the door. It was Annie. She was wearing the same thing she had been when she had moved in.

"Hello. I'm Annie DuBois. I just moved in next door. Would you mind if I came in?"

"No, not at all. We were just having lunch. I'm sure no one would mind."

Annie walked in and took the seat at the head of the table, next to Shadow and across from Amy.

"Annie?"

"Well, if it isn't my cousin Tails. Been a long time, eh? How've you been?"

"Pretty good. I'm dating Amy, the one to my left. Have you met her?"

Annie laughed. "Met her? That 17 year-old you call your girlfriend is the person I worked closely with from the last three years. That is, until she disappeared in May. It's been three years since Chicago, hasn't it?"

"And almost seven months since New York. I left then for a reason. You'd know Tails is quite the character, if you're his cousin."Amy teplied.

"I know. And I still have it. I know that's on your mind." She turned to shadow. "And what's your name, sir?"

"Shadow. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands. "And this is my brother Sonic."

"yo."

"Knuckles! How are you faring? Still dry? Still smoking?"

"Five years to the day, and no. I stopped smoking after…something happened."

They ate lunch in an awkward silence. The minutes dragged like hours. Like a web, eveyone was connected to someone else in onee way or another. Each person ate, not wanting to say a word. The meal lasted at least an hour, but no one could bring themselves to look at the clock. Finally, after the meal was done, Shadow broke the ice.

"Can I show you around the mansion?"

"That would be wonderful."

He showed her everything. The last thing they went into was the library. Amy and tails were waiting for them.

Amy was still dressed as she had been in the gaveyard, and Tails had a feeling she was staying that way. Amy Smiled.

"I see you to are warming up to each other. No surprise. I could tell from the moment you looked at him you really liked him. Now, there's something that we should tell you guys.

"tails, two years before I started dating you, I Got invovled with A strange organization. At the time, I was in Chicago on vacation. Annie grabbed me off the street right before a massive gunfight started. She then told me that I had seen too much, and must join them, or someone might try to kill me. For obvious reasons, I followed her. She showed me something that would seem to come straight out of the matrix. A digital universe that is a mirror of ours. We have a counterpart in that world who mirror our actions. We can never meet them, as the minute we cross into the digital universe, we are melded with that counterpart. Those who have melded become the hackers. We can hack the digital universe, and therefore, the real one,too, and operate things similar to a computer.

"You don't believe me? Let me prove it to you."

She closed her eyes, and held out her hand. Shadow and Tails watched as numbers coursed in green, forming a chair. The numbers solidified into a chair.

"Of course, there are people trying to dispose of people like me and Annie. Calling us heretics or the evil ones. Be it religion, or simply, anything beyond what is considered possible, they are trying to kill us. So, we have guns and such. There's lots of fighting. Those who have banded against us have sworn to kill anyone who isn't their kind. They have killed many an innocent person. We were the resistance. We were destroying them for the evils they have done."

"Amy and I were the best of our league. With her help, I forged a sword of mythical properties. It can, in essence, delete someone. But even more amazing than its power to destroy is its power to create. I can create things never conceived before. It can even raise the dead and create life."

"That's cool." Tails said. "Now about the guns…do I get some?"

"Yes."

He asked, "Why did you move here, Annie?"

"I was leaving the fight to my friends and looking to spice up my life."

A smile crossed Shadow's face.

"May I walk you home, _mademoiselle?"_

Ooh la la, He speaks french! _Oui, Merci_."

They walked away, laughing and speaking swiftly in fluent french.

"They're gonna do it." Amy said flatly.

"Hell yeah." Tails said.

They did it.

_**SATURDAY**_

_**8 A.M.**_

Shadow staggered in the door, then collapsed on the couch.

"that was the most amazing night of my life."

Sonic was sitting at his desk, his mind in that same tornado I had been in Thursday morning.

_You said you would rather do it._ 'Do I have to?' _one or the other. And be weary of those two girls, Your friend, and your brother. When you do it, you must not screw up this time. I think one may know. About last time, I mean. _'Who?' _I can't be sure. Do you think you are ready now? _'I've always been ready.' _ Good. Very good. Let's get started, shall we? _'yes. Let's.'

_**2 P.M.**_

Shadow, Amy, Tails, and Annie dropped in on Vincent and Dr. Linily. Shadow introudced Annie. Vincent made some tea. The six of them had tea and cookies.

"Out of curiosity, doctor, where is Mr. Irving?" Tails inquired.

"Well," Vincent answered, "He went back to his own house around eight this morning."

_**5 P.M.**_

As the four strolled through the woods where the paintball incident had been, They came across a bloody scene. Mr. Irving was laying there on the ground, bleeding and most likely dying. There was an axe propped up against a tree. Tails ran over to him, and Irving suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Sonic," He groaned, "Sonic, he…" then he kicked the bucket.

"THAT"S IT!" Tails shouted as he stood up. "It was him all along!"

"Very good, boy," they turned to see Sonic standing in a tree, his eyes glowing red, as he said, "But too slow, We'll get away. Won't we sonic?"

A different voice, his own voice, said, "Of course we will. The deed's been done, but more fun's to come, so hang around, I'll be coming around!" He laughed a villainous, insane laugh. He jumped down from the tree.

"hehehe! Can't catch me!"

he laughed again as he streaked off into the Dark Woods.

_Afternote: The song lyrics earlier in this chapter were from the Led Zeppelin song, _Heartbreaker.  
_the song was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and it first appeared on the album_  
Led Zeppelin III,_ Released in 1969. the lyrics have not been modified to fit the story in any way, shape or form.  
---the Author.  
_


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